The other day I commented on Matthew Perry's good fortune to have a side-gig to his normal work on Friends: reciting the wonderful dialog of West Wing writer-extraordinaire Aaron Sorkin.
I hope I'm not the one who jinxed it, because Sorking is leaving.
Writers leave shows, so at first glance this might not seem a total disaster; but this departure has the potential for calamity. Sorkin personally wrote the teleplays for just about every episode of the show, and it's his dialog that gives the show its distinctive feel. I'm not sure how well the new writers are going to be able to simulate Sorkin's rapid-fire wordplay, and I sort of hope they don't even try. Maybe they can take the show in a couple of new directions. I wouldn't mind seeing an episode, perhaps, from the viewpoint of one of those interns who are always in the background; or an episode focusing on the Press Corps.
I expect the show will last at least one more year, because they need to get it up to one hundred episodes to make it really marketable for syndication rights. But if NBC gets really desperate, they can turn the reins over to Dick Wolf. And then he can write in a big scandal and a storyline where President Bartlet gets impeached, thus changing the show into Law and Order: The West Wing Unit.
(That last suggestion is not meant seriously.)
The personal blog of author Kelly Sedinger, chronicling the adventures of one overalls-clad wanderer.
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